Death By Natural Causes

I grew up in Michigan where Mother Nature is really pretty innocuous. Oh, there's a chance of getting caught in a major snowstorm, being hit by lightning or the occasional tornado but nothing that's really too threatening.

On the other hand, when I moved for a while to Iowa, tornadoes/tornados, were a real threat but taken to be just a fact of life by the locals. I shared an office with a guy from Chico, CA, who thought earthquakes were ho-hum but was terrified that weather could actually kill you! The fact that we were on the 37th floor of a 40 story building only added to his terror.

What's the big natural killer in your area that the locals ignore? Z-Man, I know that's boredom for you.

"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. Time makes more converts than reason." - Thomas Paine Common Sense.

Earthquakes out here, obviously. And really, I fall into the category of not really afraid - and it's because they happen so infrequently. A coworker of mine, who turns 50 this year, has lived in San Francisco his entire life and been through one major earthquake ('89) - and even in that one, the only areas that had significant damage were the known liquefaction zones and a couple damaged freeway structures (the pancaked freeway was in Oakland). He was in his 1880's era Victorian at the time and there was no structural damage found afterwards. It's stories like that one that make me feel like earthquakes are pretty minor compared to hurricanes or tornadoes that you hear about every season - though I might change my mind when the BIG ONE hits

Oregon: subject to the occasional small quake that jiggles stuff around but no severe damage. most deaths occurring as a result of natural phenomena were wind related storm damage like toppled trees and downed power lines. it never failed that someone would be standing on a washed up log on the beach and a wave would cause it to roll over on them and crush them to death. also river currents and rip tides for drowning especially during the summer.

South Carolina: hurricanes and flash flooding.

New Jersey: from what i have seen so far has been related to storm damage and flash floods.

"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?"Jeremiah 22:16

Central Texas flash flooding is legendary and seems to occur in five-year cycles. For some stupid reason, however, locals still get these urges to drive their vehicles into three feet of rushing water. They do this despite the bridge gates being closed, flashing lights warning of high water, and barracades. There's a Darwin-esque streak in me that wishes we wouldn't send the rescue folks after them.

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

Aside from our politicians????

Well, then a good Nor'easter would be my guest. But those kind only come around once a generation, I suspect.

The benchmark here would be the Blizzard of '78, which turned out, meteorologically speaking, was a hurricane although it arrived in February. Boston had already endured over 20" of snow before this one set in. It came in two stages, roughly 24-36 hours apart. The first was the massive snow dump followed by astronomically high tides which the hurricane-force winds whipped up to the point where the entire seacoast from Gloucester to Plymouth was caked in sea ice and streets were locked up by floodwaters that then froze solid.

Lightning. Seems every year a couple fishermen get killed by lightning strikes. Violent thunderstorms can move in amazingly quickly here. One minute you have clear skies and then dark clouds blow over the mountains are upon you before you can say "Katey bar the door." So before the fisherman knows it is happening, he is in the middle of the reservoir with lightning on top of him.

Grizzly bears get one or two people a year. Usually in the national parks.

One or two ice fisherman get killed every year when their vehicles go through the ice, but I don't think that is a natural cause death. Driving a pickup on lake ice in November or March is asking for it.

"I am very good at reading women, but I get into trouble for using the Braille method."

Uneducated/drunk boaters die lots of early deaths here in FL. Everybody moves in from out of state, buys a boat, but do they take boater education classes? I took one when I was 13 and I remember all the safety rules.

Then the hurricanes. Well, maybe since 2004 people are better informed, but think back to Andrew and all the yahoos who wouldn't leave.

Third tier, tornadoes: we don't have F4's in FL but we do regularly get waves of killer tornadoes. Then rip currents off the beaches, tourists croak getting sucked out to sea pretty often.

When the Great Lakes states have a tornado (few and far between) they can be quite killerfull. Back in 1965, Toledo (and the metro area) had a couple tornadoes cruise through on Palm Sunday, killing about 15 people. The storm that hit Xenia, OH, has been oft-chronicled as one of the worst tornadoes ever......it was nearly a mile wide as it killed many and destroyed major portions of that south-central Ohio community. A killer tornado hit a small town in Pennsylvania (near the Ohio line) and killed many. Yes, they can happen....but not very often.

The lower Great Lakes will get the occasional heavy snow storm or blizzard. Just like the tornadoes.....few and far between. There are places that gather their fair share of "lake effect" snow.....Buffalo, Oswego, eastern 'burbs of Cleveland, South Bend, Grand Rapids, Upper Peninsula of Michigan.....but folks are usually expecting ole' man Winter and are ready.

Death by vehicle accident in bad conditions may fit within the title of this thread, although I would bet dollars to donuts that more people perish when conditions are good.....the snow and ice tends to slow everybody down or keep many people off the roads.

Hurricane-force winds have been recorded in many Great Lakes' areas.....once again, not very often. Back in the 1950s, hurricane-force winds blew a lake freighter into a Maumee River bridge (in Toledo), knocking that span out of commission.....forever.

Floods in the Great Lakes.....few and far between. A few years ago, heavy rain crumbled a small dam on a river north of Marquette, MI. The wall of water and debris caused some property damage.....but nothing like the headline grabbers from Grand Forks, Missouri, New Orleans, Texas, Johnstown, and others.

Excessive heat can be a killer in the Great Lakes states. Remember the high death rate in Chicago a few years ago? That has happened in other places, too, in these places with high humidity and excessive temperatures.

I don't know the numbers, but I'll bet that lightning and falling tree limbs kill a number of people in the Great Lakes. The entire Northwest Territory was a forest and swamp.....and the area is still incredibly green.

There are a small number of very-small fault lines in the Great Lakes area. Unlikely for "the big one" to hit these parts.

Bottom line: The Great Lakes are a pretty safe place to live, when speaking in terms of "natural disasters".

Uneducated/drunk boaters die lots of early deaths here in FL. Everybody moves in from out of state, buys a boat, but do they take boater education classes? I took one when I was 13 and I remember all the safety rules.

tornadoes: we don't have F4's in FL but we do regularly get waves of killer tornadoes. Then rip currents off the beaches, tourists croak getting sucked out to sea pretty often.

I agree with all the above. My examples are:

Boats - near a lock and dam on the Ohio River, Tidal/current at ocean inlets at the Jersey Shore.

Tornadic winds that cause roofs and walls to fall/collapse, ballistic debris in the air, other assorted crushing and penetrating injuries, not to mention shock.

Rip currents - It has happened in Lake Michigan and Jersey Shore.

Oddball
Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves?
Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here?
Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
From Kelly's Heroes (1970)

Are you sure you're not hurt ?
No. Just some parts wake up faster than others.
Broke parts take a little longer, though.
From Electric Horseman (1979)

The routine natural killers here on the Oregon coast are falling trees (we get REALLY strong storm winds in the winter -- 4 or 5 times a year they are hurricane force), "crossing the bar" (at the entrance to most every harbor is a sand bar that causes heavy waves, and crossing the bar can be a very dangerous thing), waves (the ones that roll driftwood logs), and the one we assume won't happen in our lifetime - tsunami (there is an area in the continental drift subduction zone just offshore that has not had a major shift - read earthquake and tsunami - since January 1700 and the recrrence period is 250 to 400 years). The 1700 tsunami ran up about 40 feet above sea level in my area, and we predict a maximum run up of 60 feet. My house is two blocks off the beach and at 68 foot elevation. My poor neighbor to the west is going to get wet though.

Fools who want to get that last opportunity of the season to do some ice fishing. Amazing how often they're right about it being the last opportunity.

People will miss that it once meant something to be Southern or Midwestern. It doesn't mean much now, except for the climate. The question, “Where are you from?” doesn't lead to anything odd or interesting. They live somewhere near a Gap store, and what else do you need to know? - Garrison Keillor

In WNY, lake effect snow (LES) is the major killer, particularly because of car accidents. LES is totally unpredictable. You leave the house and it's sunny. Two miles up the road you, literally, hit a wall of heavy snow that blinds you to the vehicles in front of you. If you can stay on the road and not hit anybody or get hit by somebody, you'll probably drive out of it in a few miles.

Most of the 'deaths by natural causes' here in Wisconsin relate to not dressing right or otherwise properly preparing for hot or cold weather, falling through the ice on lakes, lightning, being hit by a tree or power line that falls in a thunderstorm, tornadoes (but not like on the high plains!) or driving into a deer on one of the interstate or compatible highways. Heavy fog claims lives nearly every year (driving too fast for conditions, and there was a particularly BAD multi-fatal fog crash pileup on I-43 at Cedar Grove, WI a few years ago), too.

I'll bet that the Australians in the crowd here can tell some 'natural causes' stories from their part of the World (box jellyfish, 'salties', funnel-web spiders, being kicked by a kangaroo, etc).

I'll bet that the Australians in the crowd here can tell some 'natural causes' stories from their part of the World (box jellyfish, 'salties', funnel-web spiders, being kicked by a kangaroo, etc).

Mike

Ok i will take the bait....

I would say sharks, snakes and bush fires are the big killers. Perhaps spiders, but due to anti venom this is not such a problem. People tend to keep away from Kangaroos- they are only common in the bush and people there know to steer clear...

"Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?" Zoolander

Thanx for reminding me, the worst 'natural causes' disaster in the history of the State of Wisconsin was a forest firestorm. Over 2K people died when a forest firestorm hit Peshtigo, WI on 1871-10-08, the very same day that a firestorm blew through Chicago, killing 600. It was the USA's worst ever fire as measured in loss of life.

Can it happen again? I believe yes, as decades of suppression of small, low-intensity fires has loaded the northwoods with an amazing amount of fuel and low-density 'rural home' development is fairly extensive throughout - only needing an extended period of drought and a couple of hot summers (like in 1871) to complete the recipe.

Usually freak accidents from a major storm or people trying to drive through flood waters. Summer time sees a lot of drownings at the shore by people who are inexperienced swimmers, swim out too far, or are inebriated while trying to swim.

"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?"Jeremiah 22:16